1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to swimming pool equipment and more particularly to apparatus for cleaning swimming pools.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A swimming pool should be kept clean both for aesthetic and health reasons. Dirt, gravel, and other foreign objects can collect on the bottom of the pool, and calcium deposits can form on the sidewalls and bottom of the pool. Floating debris can remain on the water surface for extended periods of time unless periodically removed. Colloidal particles may remain suspended in the pools's water indefinitely.
The prior art discloses a number of devices which assist in keeping a swimming pool clean. Many of these devices are powered by pressurized water, either from a garden hose or from one of the pressurized water inlets of the swimming pool.
A typical pool cleaning apparatus is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,577,571 of Bellinson and includes a plurality of long, flexible hoses each attached at one end to a pressurized water inlet of a swimming pool, and provided at their other end with a nozzle to produce a jet of water. As the hoses snake around in the bottom of the pool they sweep and blow any contaminents which may have settled to the bottom towards the drain in the deep end of the pool.
As noted in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,820,172 of Kane, 4,087,286 of Sexton, and 2,975,791 of Pansini, bushings may be attached along the length of the hose to prevent premature wear. If the bushings are suitably configured and if they are constructed from the right kind of material they can also serve as cleaning bushings to remove calcium and other deposits from the walls and bottom of the swimming pool.
Single cleaning hoses have the disadvantage that they can miss great swaths along the bottom of the pool. For example, if the hoses are long, portions of the pool's bottom and sidewall surfaces near the inlet will probably not be cleaned. Alternatively, if the hoses are short the central areas of the pool's bottom probably can not be reached.
A problem not addressed by the prior art is how to urge floating debris and particles in colloidal suspension towards the skimmers. The only known reference which describes a mechanism for agitating the pool's water is that of Bellinson (cited above). In FIG. 5 of his patent, Bellinson teaches a whirlpool attachment for a pressurized swimming pool inlet that mixes air and water to produce a therapeutic burbling of the water near the inlet. Unfortunately, Bellinson's whirlpool attachment does not aid in directing floating debris towards the pool's skimmers and, in fact, may actually interfere with the operation of the skimmers.
Yet another problem not addressed by the prior art is how to control the whip-like action of the cleaning hoses. A valve could be place between the hose units and the pressurized inlets, but this could result in an undesirable pressure difference between the various inlets to the pool.